Mississippi has finally abolished slavery 148 years after the 13th Amendment was first passed by the Senate - thanks to movie-goers at the University of Mississippi.

Dr Ranjan Batra, an associate professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, saw the Oscar-nominated Steven Spielberg movie Lincoln in November.

The movie left him wondering what happened next when each state voted on ratifying the amendment.

He discovered that Mississippi was the only state that had not officially voted in favour of the change.

A note on the US Constitution website said: 'Mississippi ratified the amendment in 1995, but because the state never officially notified the US Archivist, the ratification is not official.'

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A medical professor saw Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th US president, and decided to look into what happened state-by-state after the 13th Amendment had been ratified by Congress

The 13th Amendment, seen here in a the Tennessee State Museum with the signature of Abraham Lincoln, had been ratified by Mississippi in 1995 but nobody filed the correct paperwork

Dr Batra, who became a US citizen in 2008 after immigrating from India, told colleague Ken Sullivan about his discovery, and Mr Sullivan remembered the 1995 vote from when he was a high school senior.

Mr Sullivan found out what paperwork was required from the National Archives' Office of the Federal Register.

The same weekend, Mr Sullivan saw the movie for himself with his wife Kris.

He told the Clarion-Ledger: 'People stood up and applauded at the end of it. That’s the first time I ever saw an audience do that.

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Mr Sullivan tracked down a copy of the 1995 resolution, which had passed the Mississippi Senate and House.

It had been introduced by state senator Hillman Frazier, who was upset when he learned his state had never ratified the 13th Amendment.

Some lawmakers had abstained from the vote, but nobody voted against it.

It is not known why the copy of the amendment was not sent in 1995.

The film Lincoln prompted Dr Ranjan Batra to discuss Mississippi's ratification of the 13th Amendment with colleague Ken Sullivan, who got in touch with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann filed the paperwork on January 30 this year after being approached by Mr Sullivan.

On February 7, the director of the Federal Register Charles A Barth wrote back.

His letter said: 'With this action, the State of Mississippi has ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.'

Hosemann told the Clarion-Ledger: 'It was long overdue.'

Frazier said: 'We finally got it right.'

Last week, Mr and Mrs Sullivan and their daughters met Secretary Hosemann and posed for photographs with the documents for the state's official ratification.

A MOVE THAT WAS 148 YEARS IN THE MAKING

The 13th Amendment, introduced under President Abraham Lincoln, states: 'Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.'

Before Mississippi corrected its oversight, the last state to ratify the amendment was Kentucky in 1976.

The 13th Amendment required 27 of the then-36 states to give their approval after it had been passed by Congress.

The 27th state to vote in its favour was Georgia in December 1865. At the time, Mississippi rejected the 13th Amendment, alongside states such as Kentucky and Delaware.